Peter Mackler Award Ceremony Tickets Now On Sale

NEW YORK, Sept. 19, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Tickets for the Peter Mackler Award Ceremony are now on sale at www.pmaward.org.  This year's winner is Lukpan Akhmedyarov of Uralskaya Nedelya (Kazakhstan). The Key Note Speaker is Assistant Secretary of State Robert O. Blake, Jr. The ceremony will take place October 12, 2012 at 6PM at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. Advance tickets are $25, $10 with student ID, and $35 at the door. Ticket purchases include one free drink and all proceeds directly benefit the Peter Mackler Award Fund.

Lukpan Akhmedyarov, 36, is a reporter for the weekly Uralskaya Nedelya in Kazakhstan. He is well known for his investigative coverage of corruption and human rights abuses as well as his criticism of the current regime. He has been the target of threats and harassment by the police.

On April 19, 2012, Akhmedyarov was the victim of a murder attempt outside his apartment building in the city of Uralsk.  Two masked individuals attacked him, hitting him on the back of the head, stabbing him multiple times and shooting him with an air-pistol.  As a result, Akhmedyarov was hospitalized for a month and treated for a head injury, eight stab wounds to the lung, kidneys, and stomach, and gun pellet injuries.

Mr. Blake was appointed Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs in May 2009.  As Assistant Secretary, he oversees U.S. foreign policy with India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Maldives, Bhutan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan.  He previously served as Ambassador to Sri Lanka and Maldives from 2006 to mid-2009 and Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Mission in New Delhi, India from 2003 – 2006.  Mr. Blake earned a B.A. from Harvard College in 1980 and an M.A. in international relations from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) in 1984. 

The Peter Mackler award rewards journalists who fight courageously and ethically to report the news in countries where freedom of the press is either not guaranteed or not recognized.  The Award is administered jointly by Global Media Forum and Reporters Without Borders.

SOURCE Peter Mackler Award for Courageous and Ethical Journalism